There are plenty of places to discuss Lost on this board, but Theories should be a little more focused. Because theories have been a little loose lately, we have updated the posting guidelines with:

What is a theory?
A theory both advances relevant questions and offers answers for those questions, backed up by evidence from the show or references. These questions and answers may satisfy some and irritate others. They may open up more questions or spur exploration of lines of thought not previously considered. An idea need not explain every facet of the show in order to be considered a theory for forum purposes. But the idea should have some relevance to some aspect of the show, purport to explain it, and be grounded in some aspect of what we think we know. Mere questions, observations, and what-ifs, without some sort of further development or analysis, likely will not be considered as meeting the criteria for T&S theories.

ETA: 2/6/06 - Theories that use the webmaze info require a WMT (webmaze theory) tag similar to the ST (spoiler theory) tag currently used.
ETA2: 25/6/06 - WMT tag not required any more. WMT threads are started in the TLE-T forum. - mav

I would like to follow up on LIW's explanation opening a discussion about what kind of theory is suitable for the show, according to the information the writers are giving us.

1. First, the book references, recommended directly by the creative team:

- The Stand, Stephen King
- The Dark Tower Series, Stephen King
- The Queen's Gambit, Walter Tevis (recommended by Javi)
- Othello, Shakespeare
- A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
- The Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Now these books are not SCI-FI books IMO, there's almost no high-tech gadgets in them. They are all Fantasy books and basically treat this points:

- Group dynamics.
- Hidden conspiracies
- Fight Good vs Evil

2. What we've already seen on the island.

- THe Black ROck.
- A big plane.
- A small plane.
- Danielle and her gear.
- Dharma facilities.
- The "Piece Corps" people and their gear.
- Ethan and his gear.
- Whispers.
- Black Smoke.
- A raft.
- A small inland boat.
- Something magnetic covered with concrete.
- A giant Stobor.

None of these elements support the presence of a high-tech power on the island. Even Dharma's stuff is outdated. Ethan and "The Peace Corps People" are basically using their hands and primitive weapons to fight. So far the deadliest weapon around is fear, and the dynamite (dangerous to anyone around due to its decay).

.

How this people can make some of us believe they are capable of travelling through time and space, to use advanced mental powers, etc... is a mystery to me.

This is only a point of view and I might change it at any time mind you, lol.

Thanks you LIW & Lac. T&S has been reading like General lately, and not much use was made of the "pre-theory" board, which I thought was an excellent idea. I'm sure within the next few episodes we should get plenty more ammo for new theories, and it would be nice to keep the board focused for easier reading and reference.
Thanks, guys.

Maybe there should be an after-school forum where the teens can mix and match posts w/o interference from adults? Obviously their brains are fried after long days in the classroom, and it's too much to expect them to read guidelines and think before they post.

They wouldn't be restricted to just posting in that forum but ones who wander over here could be told their posts are subject to rigorous interrogation and ruthless slapping w/o any special consideration for the author's tender age.

__________________"What I like about the show is that it poses questions and doesn't give you answers.
Just like life."~Mira Furlan~